Lost in Translation? Class Cleavage Roots and Left Electoral Mobilization in Western Europe

I investigate whether the strength of the class cleavage in Western Europe still “translates” into the electoral mobilization of the left. This research question is addressed through comparative longitudinal analysis in nineteen Western European countries after World War II. In particular, the impact of class cleavage is investigated by disentangling its socio-structural (working-class features) and organizational (corporate and partisan) components, thus accounting for its multidimensional nature. Data show that both components have a significant impact in Western Europe after 1945. However, while the socio-structural element is still nowadays a substantial predictor of left electoral mobilization, the impact of the organizational element has decreased over time and has become irrelevant in the last twenty-five years. Therefore, the class cleavage is not entirely lost in translation, but left electoral mobilization is no longer dependent upon the organizational features of trade unions and political parties that originally emerged to represent working-class interests.

Cooperatives as a Buffer Between Capitalism’s Conflicting Classes: The Pioneering Case of the Portuguese Cooperative Societies Act

Portugal was a pioneer in state-led cooperative development. In 1867, the parliament passed legislation encouraging workers to organize their own collective businesses. In the view of the ruling elite, this would prevent the emergence of a class cleavage between labor and capital, contributing to the stability of the liberal economic and political order. Combining the historical method with John Kingdon’s multiple-streams approach to policy formulation, this article examines the complex array of domestic and external factors that shaped this policy intervention. Additionally, the study explores the impact of the policy on the involved stakeholders. Far from fulfilling the expectations of its promoters, the law on cooperatives seems to have only marginally stimulated the growth of the sector. Moreover, the government’s support to cooperatives seems to have undermined the legitimacy of the model in the eyes of a labor movement that was starting to see its interests as opposed to those of the ruling class.

The Determinants of Municipal Structures on a Political-Administrative Dimension

Adjusting municipal structures and cross-adoption of structural characteristics between mayor-council and council-manager municipalities have been common in the United States in recent decades. This research investigates seven essential structural characteristics of U.S. municipalities and constructs a municipal structure political-administrative index. We attempt to examine the determinants of municipal structures on a political-administrative dimension. We incorporate political conflict theory and class cleavage theory into our theoretical model of the cost analysis of citizens to explain municipal structure choices. Data are collected from the Decennial Census, American Community Survey, and three rounds of national surveys of municipal structures by the International City/County Management Association in 2001, 2006, and 2011. The final data set contains 6,777 municipality-year observations, and the empirical results demonstrate that municipal structure choices are statistically significantly associated with citizens’ socioeconomic and demographic characteristics. Citizens’ income levels play a crucial role in determining municipal structure changes during the sample period (2001-2011).

The Never-Ending Story of Class Voting in Sweden

This chapter presents a broad description of the development of class voting in Sweden. The aim of the study goes beyond simple description, however, in that it presents and applies a wider frame for understanding the development of the relationship between class position and party choice. The chapter begins with a reflection on the theoretical basis for class voting as representing the relation between a social and a political cleavage. It then examines developments in voting patterns in constituencies of different social and political composition and as an expression of class identification, and concludes that the class cleavage is still a viable characteristic of the Swedish political system.